FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — As far as the Giants are concerned, Clint Sintim now defines the term “hard luck.”

The backup linebacker suffered another devastating injury to his right knee last night, rupturing the patella tendon and likely severing the ACL after a chop block in the third quarter of an 18-17 exhibition win over the Patriots.

It was the same knee in which Sintim tore the ACL last season, resulting in a grueling rehab and comeback that came to a jarring halt last night.

The latest injuries are so severe the former second-round pick’s career could be in jeopardy.

“As soon as I hit, I knew,” an emotional Sintim said afterward. “It’s unfortunate. I worked really hard to get back and, um . . . it’s just unfortunate, but that’s the way football is. I’m going to give myself a couple of days and I’m going to get back on the grind.”

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Rookie Da’Rell Scott turned in his second huge play of the preseason, romping 65 yards for a touchdown with a fake punt on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Scott also had a 97-yard TD run against the Bears last week, but the bigger story was coach Tom Coughlin actually calling for a fake punt.

Asked how long it had been since he had called one, Coughlin joked: “Oh, probably 1971.”

Coughlin also gave the Patriots something to think about for their regular-season rematch here in November.

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The Giants can only hope Jerrel Jernigan got his fumbling problems out of the way in the preaseason.

Jernigan followed up his four-fumble epic against the Jets on Monday with another display of butterfingers, mishandling punts on back-to-back snaps in the second quarter.

Coughlin said Jernigan will be in the mix to return punts in the season-opener at Washington but was less than convincing. Domenik Hixon or Victor Cruz could get the job initially instead.

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Veteran QB Sage Rosenfels didn’t get on the field for the third straight game because of his recent back woes and could be headed to the unemployment line.

Not only did David Carr play three quarters last night, but the Giants also like Ryan Perrilloux, a second-year pro, seemingly leaving no room for Rosenfels after he battled illness and back injuries this summer.

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The Patriots are on the road for the regular-season opener, so they recognized the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks last night with a pregame ceremony.

The Patriots hosted one of their former players, guard Joe Andruzzi, his three New York City firefighter brothers and his father, a former NYPD officer.

The Andruzzi family served as honorary game captains and participated in the coin toss. Also as part of the tribute, members of all five branches of the military participated in pregame ceremonies.